Digital content marketing and consumer brand engagement on social media- do influencers’ brand content moderate the relationship?

ABSTRACTDigital content marketing (DCM) has been found to be effective in engaging consumers with brands, particularly on social media. Complementing DCM pursuits with social media influencers' (SMIs) brand content can further enhance the ameliorating results. This study aimed to empirically assess DCM's relationship with consumer brand engagement on social media and how SMI's brand content moderates this relationship. Through a quantitative approach, the empirical data was purposively collected from 1022 respondents via a web-based survey questionnaire. The findings indicate that DCM campaigns with an information, entertainment, commercial, and emotional focus have positive relationships with consumer brand engagement, except when DCM campaigns have negative emotional elements. Moreover, the brand content of SMIs significantly moderates the relationship between DCM elements and brand engagement. However, DCM campaigns with negative emotional elements have a negative relationship on brand engagement when SMI is a moderator. This study is significant as it empirically tests the interplay among DCM, SMIs, and brand engagement on social media, contributing to the literature on this topic.KEYWORDS: Digital content marketinginfluencer marketingbrand engagementsocial media influencersDCMSMIs Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the University of Ghana Business School [UGBS/RCC/2022-23/017].Notes on contributorsRaphael OdoomRaphael Odoom (PhD) is with the University of Ghana Business School and is currently a research associate at the Department of Marketing Management, University of Johannesburg. His research interests are in the areas of digital marketing, branding, and small business management. He has published in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Journal of Brand Management, European Business Review, Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, among others.